KEVIN Lock wrote:
Onno,
Please tell me how I am paying for computer to computer Skype calls.
Kev
At 12:11 AM +0930 17/6/05, Onno Benschop wrote:
You get given money to make phone calls?
Seriously though, your Internet phone call *is* costing money, just
that you're paying for it in another way.
--
Onno Benschop
Sigh, do I *really* need to join the dots here?
Likely you are paying some form of line-rental for your Internet
connection. In addition, you are likely paying a monthly charge for your
Internet connection and in some cases you are paying to connect to the
Internet in the form of analogue or ISDN dial-up charges. You might also
be charged for excess data down-loads.
You likely needed to purchase some hardware, in some cases lots of it to
be able to connect to the Internet. There's the cost of your computer,
the cost of power, the cost of an extra microphone (or a head- or hand-set).
True, your actual software might not actually cost money directly,
though even there some hidden costs exist such as disk space, downloads,
in some cases costs associated with advertising - that is downloading
banner ads.
So, as I said, your Internet phone call is costing money, just that
you're paying for it in another way.
Is it cheaper, perhaps, but add up all of the above before you start
screaming from the roof-tops that it's free.
I suspect that some will now be jumping up and down: "But, but...", for
those the following paragraph:
Yes, you already had your computer and you've already paid for your
Internet connection and you've got unlimited data, etc. Sure, all
that is true. But from the perspective that you started with
nothing, that is, you walked into an empty house, buying a phone and
connecting it and then phoning the UK on a phone card is much
cheaper than buying a computer, connecting it to the Internet,
installing Skype and making a computer to computer call.
By now I'm actually beginning to wonder how much cheaper, so here goes:
The first phone call to UK with a phone line and a calling card:
* Connect the phone line: $59.00
* Touchphone 400 rental: $3.00
* Purchase of phone card: $20.00
* Local call to calling card: $0.175
* 1 minute phone call to UK: $0.29 + $0.019
The second phone call to the UK with a phone line and a calling card:
* Local call to calling card: $0.175
* 1 minute phone call to UK: $0.29 + $0.019
The first phone call to the UK with Skype:
* Connect the phone line: $59.00
* Connect ADSL (incl. modem): $189.00
* ADSL plan: $29.95
* Macintosh (eMac): $1299.00
* Download Skype (6.7Mb @ 15c/Mb): $1.005
* 1 minute phone call to UK (3-16kB/s = Average 9.5kB/s =>
570kB/min): $0.0855
The second phone call to the UK with Skype:
* 1 minute phone call to UK:$0.0855
So, that means for the first call the total costs are:
* Phone: $82.484
* Skype: $1578.0405
The second call totals:
* Phone: $0.484
* Skype: $0.0855
So, if you were to spend 3146 minutes phoning the UK, then Skype would
be cheaper.
Now at that time, after 3146 minutes on-line, you will have used nearly
37Mb of data (including the download of Skype and excluding idle time on
a Skype connection), which is still included in the cap associated with
the chosen ADSL plan, thus the picture would change: 3087
Skype
* First call: $1578.0405 - $1.005 - $0.0855 = $1576.95
That would mean it takes 3087 minutes for Skype to become cheaper.
I should point out that the initial phone call on a phone line incurs
the cost of a phone card and that the call itself is also charged in
that. The perspective is that you need the phone card as an
infrastructure item to actually make the call and that the
infrastructure looses value (namely the call to the UK) for the first
minute.
It should also be pointed out that the shown calling card is only
capable of maintaining a call of 1037 minutes, so you'd actually need to
get a higher credit.
I've also ignored that this calculates phone calls lasting one minute
only, otherwise 3087 minutes would cost $142.70 for a phone line. If you
make it as one call (and you have enough credit and your call doesn't
drop out), it takes even longer, 78631 minutes, or 54 days on the phone
- and I've ignored the need to pay for multiple months of rental.)
So, next time you say that Internet calling is cheaper, you are now
armed with some facts and I must say that I'm surprised at the outcome.
You should also note that I've used standard pricing for all things
here, I suspect that you can get a cheaper ADSL plan, a cheaper
Macintosh by buying a Mac Mini, monitor, keyboard and mouse, etc. I have
attempted to make sure that I've covered all my bases and that I've not
made any errors or omissions, but if I have, let the debate begin.
And I should point out that this email took 1 hour and 13 minutes to
compose which would also result in a bill of $146 for my time, but it
wouldn't impact on the number of calls you'd need to make for Skype to
be cheaper, because it would be charged regardless of the connection you
use :-)
Kind regards,
--
Onno Benschop
Connected via Optus B3 at S34°45'36.5" - E139°00'08.7" (Mount Pleasant, SA)
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